"Humanity will never live in comfort as long as the Jews are causing devastating corruption throughout the land.”

[Imad Hamato, Islam lesson on PA TV]

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Last week, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas emphasized his endorsement of the Antisemitic host of the weekly PA TV program This is Our Religion, Imad Hamato, when he received him at his headquarters in Ramallah. Abbas appointed him as head of Gaza’s Al-Azhar institutes a few months ago.

"Humanity will never live in comfort as long as the Jews are causing devastating corruption throughout the land. Humanity will never live in peace or fortune or tranquility as long as they are corrupting the land. An old man told me: If a fish in the sea fights with another fish, I am sure the Jews are behind it."

At the recent meeting with Abbas, Hamato emphasized that the institutes under his leadership “are committed to... the moderate message of Islam.” In response, Abbas stressed “his full support of the Al-Azhar institutes and praised their large role in conveying the correct message of Islam.” [WAFA, official PA news agency, March 6, 2017]

One can only question how Abbas sees Jews if he appoints a person to be a top educator whose “message of Islam” includes the following hate speech and Antisemitism:

“Jews are a people of lies. Lies, distortion of the truth, and aversion to the truth flow in their blood... This is always the practice of the Jews. They create wars."

"They [the Jews] are usurers. See, the usury money and usurer banks, those who control the money in the world can be counted on one hand - a few individuals - and all of them belong to the Jewish world. They control the media, the money, the press, the resources, the plans."

... [Israel] erases the Islamic traces and fingerprints in Jerusalem...

Then they began to Judaize education by flooding the media, as was written in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: 'We have to strive that the Westerner, the Arab, the American and the Australian will hear only what the Jews want him to hear.'"

The following are longer excerpts of the reports on PA Chairman Abbas’ appointment of Sheikh Hamato as dean of the Al-Azhar institutes and his endorsement of his “correct message of Islam”:

Headline: "[PA] presidential decision: Sheikh Hamato was appointed dean of the Al-Azhar institutes"

"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decision regarding the appointment of preacher Sheikh Dr. Imad Yaqub Hamato as dean of the Al-Azhar institutes in Palestine."

[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Oct. 25, 2016]

Headline: "The [PA] president receives the dean of the Al-Azhar institutes in Palestine"

"[PA] President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas received Dean of the Al-Azhar institutes in Palestine Sheikh Imad Hamato this evening, (Monday) [March 6, 2017], at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

Hamato briefed His Honor the President on the situation of the Al-Azhar institutes in Palestine, on the challenges they are dealing with, and on the development plans.

He emphasized that the institutions are committed to the respectable message of Al-Azhar, the moderate message of Islam...

The president emphasized his full support of the Al-Azhar institutes and praised their large role in conveying the correct message of Islam. His Honor [Abbas] blessed the dean of the Al-Azhar institutes on his entry into the [new] role, and wished him success in the future.

Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim and the president's advisor on religious and Islamic affairs and Supreme Shari'ah Judge of Palestine Mahmoud Al-Habbash were present at the meeting."

[WAFA, official PA news agency, March 6, 2017]

The Al-Azhar institutes are schools that prepare students for studies at the Al-Azhar University, which was established in Gaza by a decree of Yasser Arafat in 1991. The institutes follow the curriculum of the Al-Azhar Institute in Egypt rather than the PA curriculum. Al-Azhar University’s website describes it as independent, but the PA has some control as shown by the fact that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas appointed Imad Hamato as dean of the institutes.